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- April 1, 2013
Policy Options to Cut Emergency Department Costs
Read moreFor nearly 50 years, emergency rooms have been fingered as a major source of excessive healthcare costs. And while some newer research has challenged the idea that a large proportion of patients visit the emergency room for routine problems, many payers and policy makers continue to focus on these...
00 - April 1, 2013
Interim Report Says There is Little Support for Medicare Payments That Vary
Read moreAn interim report recently issued by the Institute of Medicine concluded Medicare should not adjust payments on a broad regional basis to reward hospitals and doctors that spend less to achieve high-quality care. The study was conducted at the request of the secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen...
- April 1, 2013
Colorado Health Report Card Released
Read moreEach spring, the Colorado Health Foundation releases a health report card for the state, measuring things like teen pregnancy, smoking, obesity and mental health. This year, Colorado received three Bs, a C and a D. The analysis divides Coloradans into five age groups, prenatal to old age. Overall, the...
- March 27, 2013
Disaster Recovery and EHR Systems-A special Workshop you should not miss!!!
Read moreAre you attending The Forum this April? Get the most out of your travel to Denver and consider arriving a day early for this special workshop on Disaster Recovery and EHR Systems! Presented by The Colorado Rural Health Center and Data Services for Healthcare (DASH) S A V E T H E ...
- March 25, 2013
Thank Senators Bennet and Udall for Their Efforts to Ensure Rural Healthcare Providers’ Need are Addressed by the Senate
Read moreAs part of the ongoing budget discussions, Colorado Senators Michael Bennet and Mark Udall, and New Mexico Senator Martin Heinrich, have put forward Amendment 612 to the proposed Senate budget to ensure that rural healthcare providers’ needs are addressed by the Senate. The amendment, which can be viewed by...
- March 25, 2013
Clarification Regarding the Colorado Health Insurance Cooperative
Read moreIn a blog post dated March 15th, I erroneously reported that Colorado received a loan to create a CO-OP, and I would like to correct that information. The Colorado Health Insurance Cooperative (CO-OP) was established in 2012 through a $69 million loan awarded by the Department of Health and...
- March 25, 2013
Study Says Medicaid Expansion for All States Would Pay Hospitals More By 2022
Read moreAccording to a study by the Urban Institute funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, states that expand Medicaid could see $2.59 gained in Medicaid revenue for every private insurance dollar lost. Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), states have the option to raise the income eligibility mark for...
- March 25, 2013
Improving Quality and Patient Safety for Vulnerable Populations
Read moreDr. Bruce Siegel is the President and CEO of the National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems (NAPH), and is a contributor to the Learning Health System Commentary Series of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) Roundtable on Value & Science- Driven Health Care. Authored commentaries in the IOM...
- March 25, 2013
Opinion Piece: The ACA is Pushing Physicians to Become Hospital Employees
Read moreIt is estimated that by next year, about 50% of U.S. doctors will be working for a hospital or hospital-owned health system. A recent survey by the Medical Group Management Association, shows a nearly 75% increase in the number of active doctors employed by hospitals or hospital systems since...
- March 25, 2013
Will Medicare Cost Slow Down Close the US Budget Gap?
Read moreNew evidence that the slowdown in healthcare costs over the past five years is happening not only because of a weak economy comes from the Economic Report of the President report, recently released by the President’s Council of Economic Advisers. The report found that if the slowdown were to...
